I have been working on this book for ages (well it feels that way, I have partials from 2 years ago that I keep promising to finish...sorry characters it's me not you). Part of the problem with this WIP is that I had no clear idea about the black moment when I started. I usually have a first meet for the h/h and the black moment and a couple of other bits in my head before I even start plotting.
Not this time.
Characters have died, secrets have been revealed and now I'm here for the final confrontation I'm not sure what should happen. Evil should be vanquished. That's the best part of fiction.
I have jokingly suggested I should let my characters be killed and call it lit fic instead of romantic suspense.
I think part of the problem is this book has been dark. The hero should go to the cops but he can't trust them. He can't trust anyone, but killing the villain doesn't seem right. It's too easy, too neat and the villain doesn't pay for what he's done. And it's just another death. I want my characters to have moved past that. To have grown and learned.
As I sit with note pad and pen trying to think my way out of this box I have made for myself and the characters I ponder what makes a satisfying ending. If the villain isn't dead can the hero still win, or is he settling?
And once that is done I still have to drag the romance out of the ashes.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Stuck in the Black Moment
Posted by: Shona Husk
SHONA HUSK is the author of the Shadowlands, Court of Annwyn and the Face the Music series. You can find out more information about Shona at www.shonahusk.com or follow her on Twitter @ShonaHusk, Facebook www.facebook.com/shonahusk or join her newsletter: http://mad.ly/signups/119074/join
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I don't think all villains have to die, but they should be left in a situation where they can no longer hurt people. Often this means prison or death but not always. In one of my novels I blinded the villain, which rendered her incapable of doing magic and stripped away her powers. Is there something your villain has that can be taken away?
ReplyDeleteIntriguing question. Depends on whether you want to use the villain in another book. If he is a really good villain maybe you have to keep him alive to be evil another day.
ReplyDeleteBut, of course, you have to give the hero a chance to win which means defeating the villain in some way. This could be imprisonment or, as Nicole said, stripping away the villain's power. The villain's fate also has to align with the hero's character and growth. eg if the hero needs to learn mercy, obviously he'd let the villain live.
This is romantic suspense rather than paranormal? So maybe consider what readers of the sub-genre would expect and go with that.